


A Passing of Time

by Phoenix_Vagabond



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games), Mortal Kombat - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Because it's One of My Favorite Tropes, Elder Gods shenanigans, F/M, No Sex, Original Female Character - Freeform, Professor Raiden - Freeform, Reincarnation, Thunder Gods are kind of my thing, just a brief scene of heart removal, professor/student
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:33:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21774493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_Vagabond/pseuds/Phoenix_Vagabond
Summary: Althea is a biology student who in her last year of classes has to take a history course. Raiden finds that an out of place science student is actually becoming one of his favorites since her interest in his class is genuine. Or perhaps there is something all too familiar about her?
Relationships: Raiden/OC, Raiden/Original Character
Kudos: 10





	A Passing of Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is also posted under Vagrant Valkyrie on Wattpad since that's the only story I've ever cared to post on there. This does bounce back and forth between the past and present, so be aware of that! Enjoy!

How she ended up in his presence was still a mystery to her. One minute, she was fighting these...beasts and the next thing she knew, blue light flashed before her eyes, surrounding her-protecting her from unseen foes. Frantically, she looked around, eyes darting everywhere to find where that lightning originated from. She never could have imagined the man that had created it.

Her eyes locked onto him as he floated down to the ground. He landed silently although, nothing about his presence was silent in her eyes. Lightning, the actual stuff that only resided in storm clouds, wrapped and flickered around his body like he was made of it.

As he approached her, she took small steps back, unsure of the man before her. Broad shouldered and easily six and a half feet tall-most likely more though. White and dark blue attire with some gold accents. She couldn’t see his eyes directly, but from what she could see through his straw hat, they were a blinding blue.

“Who are you?” she questioned after finally finding her voice.

“I am Raiden, God of Thunder,” he answered.

Suddenly, his hand shot up and a bolt of lightning flew from it, going just past her head to hit a beast behind her. Althea tensed at the sound and feel of the lightning going by her, making her hair stand on end.

Raiden lowered his hand.

“My apologies. I did not mean to frighten you,” Raiden said.

Althea glanced behind her to see the beast, now dead, lying on the ground.

“It’s fine,” Althea returned her eyes to Raiden’s.

“Althea, will you come to Sky Temple with me? I can better explain myself there,” Raiden told her, offering his hand palm up to her.

She stared at his hand.

“You have willingly sacrificed yourself to protect others that live here in this realm with you. You are the very essence of a hero to those you have saved with your actions. I am searching for the strongest warriors I can find. And I have chosen you as one of them,” Raiden said, trying to persuade her just the slightest.

Althea looked up at his eyes before returning them to his hand, still extended toward her.

“Okay,” she agreed hesitantly.

She placed her hand in his. Once she did, Raiden teleported with her to Sky Temple.

***

As he continued on with his syllabus lecture, Raiden noticed the young woman who seemed out of place in his lecture hall due to her science themed backpack with some periodic table joke on it. She was slightly older than the average, fresh-outta-high school freshmen and sophomores he usually had in this course. Although, perhaps she was filling an elective late in her college career. It perplexed him as to why a possible science major would be in his history course, but he was never one to judge someone completely based on appearance.

Besides, she was one of the few students who appeared to actually be paying attention to his words rather than sitting mindlessly on her phone. The devices were more than annoying in his mind, but he understood that should there be an emergency, one should have the means to be notified immediately.

Speaking of which, another phone sounded off in the small lecture hall.

“I understand if you need to be contacted for an emergency or such that, having a cell phone is useful, but refrain from leaving them on ring in this lecture hall. This class is only an hour and a half long. If the need to be notified immediately is that important, put your phone on vibrate instead of ring. You may step out of the room to take a call. Do not take the call in this room _during_ my lectures. Others who have paid for this course like you will not take interruptions as such lightly,” Raiden explained, giving the student roughly halfway up the room a pointed look. The student quickly put his phone on silent while his face slowly tinged red.

A freshmen, Raiden noted to himself amused.

He continued through the rest of his lecture about the syllabus and his teaching assistant added in a few points now and again.

“All right. That will be all for this class. We will meet again in this same hall for the rest of classes as according to the schedule in your syllabi. If there are any changes, I will email you. So be sure to check your school emails daily,” Raiden announced.

Most of the students rushed to leave while Raiden went to the desk to gather up his things. While he did, he noticed that the woman was lingering, taking her time packing up. He took in her long hair as it fell forward over one of her shoulders. The purple long sleeve shirt she wore with white accents and black leggings that seemed to have a very light design on them, but he couldn’t tell for sure.

By the time it took Raiden to finish was when he noticed his TA talking with the woman.

“...Oh! So that’s why you’re in this course. I thought it was a little odd that you were here,” Liu Kang, the TA, said to the woman.

“Yeah. And I know students warned me about Raiden, but the same ones said that it was a course worthwhile,” the woman replied.

“I still can’t believe you’re here, Thea,” Liu Kang stated.

“Liu, you can stop saying that,” Thea laughed.

Thea. The name rang in Raiden’s mind, but despite his gut saying that something was up, he chose to ignore it for the time being.

“Hey, Dr. Raiden!” Liu Kang waved him over. “Come here. This is my friend, Thea. We had class together back when I was a senior.”

Raiden walked over to join the two.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Thea,” Raiden greeted her. “Although, I don’t recall a ‘Thea’ on my student roster.”

She laughed sheepishly. “My name is Althea, but my friends call me Thea.”

“Very well. Do you have a preference for class?” Raiden asked.

“No. You can call me either or,” she answered.

“Hey, I’ve got to run to get to my next class. I’ll see you tomorrow, Doc. And, Thea, dinner at the cafe to catch up?” Liu questioned, grabbing his bag as he walked backward to the door.

“You know it,” Althea called after him.

Liu shot a thumbs up to her before rushing out of the room.

“What class did you and Liu Kang have together?” Raiden asked.

Althea turned from facing the door to the professor, answer ready at her lips. Yet, she paused once her eyes met his. The moment paused with the two of them staring, entranced by the other.

The gut feeling Raiden had ignored came back tenfold. Althea’s name sounded all too familiar to him, and he couldn’t place where he’d heard it before. It instantly started bothering him even though he knew he had not met this woman before today.

Althea couldn’t pull her eyes away from his because, by god, did he have the most vibrant blue eyes she had ever seen. And she was thankful that he hadn’t taken too much notice of the fact that she had been staring at him.

“I, um, we had a general biology class together and were partners in lab with a couple other students, Bi-Han and Hanzo,” Althea answered finally.

Her words broke Raiden from his trance and he cleared his throat before grabbing his bag. He gestured to the door and she quickly grabbed her own backpack. They walked up the stairs side by side and continued their conversation while not acknowledging how they had just spent so long staring at the other.

“Bi-Han and Hasashi Hanzo?” Raiden asked.

“Yeah. Those are the ones.”

“Troublemakers from what I remember from having them together.”

“They’re not troublemakers...okay, no. I see your point. They are,” Althea changed her mind after thinking about her two friends for a moment.

Raiden chuckled at her response, pausing with her just outside the door. “Well, if you ever need help or have any questions, my office hours are Wednesday and Friday after class for two hours, or if you set up a time with me. And if my door is open, you’re welcome to come in and ask questions. Also, Liu Kang is going to start a study group where any student who doesn’t want to come to me directly to get answers can go,” Raiden told her.

“Thank you, Professor,” Althea smiled.

Raiden nodded before saying, “See you next class.”

Althea waved goodbye and headed in the opposite direction of him as he walked toward his office. His autopilot kicked in and Raiden found himself more curious about Althea. He definitely recognized something about her. Perhaps it was that he’d seen her on campus before? Or Liu Kang had mentioned her in one of his past stories? He shook his head while he unlocked the door to his office, trying to refocus himself and get to setting up his lecture for the next class.

***

“You’re getting better,” Raiden told Althea as he blocked another strike from her.

“You keep saying that, but it doesn’t feel like it,” she replied in pants.

“You may not feel the improvement, but I have seen it.”

Althea grabbed her knees, taking a moment to try and catch her breath as the Thunder God watched her, slightly amused.

“Mortal Kombat is a fighting tournament more difficult than this?” Althea questioned.

“That it is,” Raiden stated.

Althea groaned, standing up straight and putting her hands on her hips. “How do the others do it?”

“They have trained for many more years than you have. You’ve only trained for a couple months now. Some of the kombatants that I know of have trained for upwards of centuries,” Raiden said.

“Seriously? How old are some of them?” Althea’s questions never seemed to stop.

“Older than I am.”

“And they have powers like you?”

“Most do, yes. That is why we are training. We are trying to find yours.”

Althea sat on the ground heavily.

“I wish that we had some idea of my power,” Althea confessed.

Raiden sat down in front of her, taking up his meditation pose, and asked, “Join me in meditating?”

She blew out an exasperated breath before adjusting to sit similar to Raiden with a quiet, “Sure.”

“I understand how frustrated you are, but that shouldn’t deter you from the progress you can make without the negative thoughts and emotions clouding your mind from the task at hand,” Raiden said, his eyes closed as he breathed slowly.

“I don’t know how to not be frustrated with the lack of progress toward finding my power,” Althea replied with her eyes closed as well.

“Do not focus on just finding your power. The end goal for you is to train as much as you can so that you are prepared for Mortal Kombat. If your power reveals itself somewhere along the way, then we will take care to train you using it. As of now, it has not, so do not worry about finding it. It will come with time,” Raiden advised.

Althea’s eyes snapped open. “How am I supposed to compete without a power? I will be vastly outmatched if I do! And I don’t exactly have unlimited time to train either. The tournament is only weeks away!” Althea’s emotions drove her voice louder and louder.

“Tone,” Raiden warned her. “This is not a matter I am taking lightly. As I said earlier, I understand your frustration, but this is not something we can rush. Now, take some time to meditate and refocus your emotions and your mindset.”

She took a deep breath but kept her eyes open for meditating.

Most of her time here at Sky Temple had been spent with Raiden and she hadn’t ever noticed it before. The days flown by and the most obvious, most consistent thing to all of them, was the god in front of her.

Raiden was currently in similar attire to the day she met him. With the exception of his straw hat tilted the slightest bit back so that he could look at her with unobstructed, calculating eyes while they sparred. Plus, how he managed to stay in the thick pants and long-sleeved shirt he wore with more layers of fabric on top and not be sweating to death or dying from heat, she was still working on figuring out. Although, Althea did watch as a bead of sweat rolled down from his temple to the edge of the black balaclava that came up just over his chin. Then, her eyes shifted to his shoulders, watching as they rose and fell with each of his deep breaths. The width of them was massive, yet she should have expected that from someone that broad shouldered and who also dwarfed her in nearly every way physically.

By the time Althea realized she had the faintest of smiles stretched across her lips, her eyes had made it to Raiden’s chest and were quickly descending further. Her face flushed while her gaze snapped upward toward the sky.

Two months spent with primarily interacting with Raiden. Staring was one thing but catching herself from going any further down Raiden’s body with the thoughts she was having was an entirely different thing.

Althea let out a long breath and closed her eyes, trying desperately to reel her mind back to where it should be.

When he heard her let out a second audible breath, Raiden cracked one eye open. Despite his years learning to block out distractions for meditation, hearing Althea continually let out frustrated huffs caused his focus to crumble every time.

She didn’t appear to be anything except upset, yet he imagined that was due to her lack of success with finding her power.

“Perhaps, we should end training for today,” Raiden stated. He opened his eyes fully and rested his hands on his knees.

Althea’s eyes opened to stare at him in shock. “Are you serious? We just talked about how little time I have left to train and you want to stop?” she questioned.

“I believe stopping for the rest of today will be better for you then having you continue. Right now, you are not in any shape to train. It is not a terrible thing to rest. Your body and your mind need it and that is what I believe to be best for you for the time being,” Raiden explained.

He stood up while Althea continued staring up at him. There was no way he was being serious, right? Hours would be wasted if he chose not to continue her training for the rest of the day and any of the other monks wouldn’t help her because only Raiden trained her.

Althea jumped up to her feet. “What if I work on restraining my emotions while we spar more?” she suggested.

Raiden placed a hand on her shoulder. “Rest and relax. If you push yourself beyond what you can handle at the moment, it will only hinder your training for the days to come.”

Her fingers wrapped around his wrist, holding onto him tightly. “Please, Raiden. I didn’t join you under the pretense of relaxing. I joined you because you offered to train me, and I agreed to be a kombatant for you. I want to protect Earthrealm like you do. But I need your guidance to do so!”

“Have patience, Althea. Your heart and soul are in the right place, but you need to allow yourself respite. Take a few hours to soak in a spring or sit and properly meditate,” Raiden advised.

Althea tensed just the slightest under his hand at the mention of meditating. She definitely hadn’t come close to it with him right in front of her even though he was usually the best aid for her meditation.

“Fine,” Althea reluctantly gave in.

Raiden could feel the defeat in her body at her reply.

“Come with me. I’ll brew some tea to help you begin relaxing,” Raiden offered.

He removed his hand from her shoulder and she wordlessly followed him inside.

Raiden went down the hall toward the residents’ quarters.

“Go soak in the springs and join me once you’re done,” Raiden told Althea over his shoulder. Then, he went into his own, personal quarters and left Althea to do as he instructed.

***

“Professor?” Althea asked hesitantly, cracking his office door open and poking her head in.

“Hello, Althea,” Raiden greeted. “You’re right on time. Come in.” He gathered the papers on his desk into a pile and sat them to the side.

Althea took a seat in one of the two chairs in front of his desk, digging in her bag before pulling out her notebook.

“I’m sorry for the late notice,” Althea apologized as she flipped through the pages to find where her most recent notes were.

“It’s okay. That is the reason why I check my email often,” Raiden offered a kind smile.

Althea glanced up at him, still nervous, but his expression eased her mind some.

“Okay,” she said, finding the notes she wanted to discuss. “I asked Liu about this, but he was unsure about it.” She set her notebook on his desk and pointed to the area of notes she was referring to with her pen.

“He knows most of the material in my course, but it’s been some time since he has taken it.” Raiden gave her notes a quick read. “Ah. I understand your confusion.”

“So, how did this period come to be?” Althea asked.

Raiden turned her notebook back to her and began explaining, in depth, of the lead up to a civil war while Althea began adding and jotting down new notes alongside her previous ones.

After a while of discussing back and forth, the clock in Raiden’s office chimed six times.

“I didn’t think it was that late,” Raiden remarked.

“Wow. That time went by quick,” Althea commented.

“That it did.”

Closing her notebook, she boldly asked, “Would it be okay if we set up a time to meet during the week? I just think that would be best to help me get information together and in proper order for the term paper I’m writing for the hybrid English class I have.”

If Raiden was being at all honest with himself, sharing the information he had acquired throughout his life was one of his favorite past times. Now, he has a student who is eager, enthusiastic, and willing to learn more about what he teaches? It was refreshing. And she wasn’t even in history for a major.

“Sure. Would it be easier for you to work with mornings or evenings?” Raiden asked, turning his chair slightly to look at the calendar and schedule on his board on the wall.

“Evenings are better for me. I have class pretty much all through the morning and most of the afternoon usually.”

“Since my course is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:30 to 3:00, and I hold office hours on Wednesday and Friday until 5:00, would it be okay with you to meet at 6:00 in the evening? That way, if you’re really struggling, you can come to my office hours and I can help you until around 8:00,” Raiden suggested.

“Yeah. That actually works really well for me,” Althea answered, glancing up from her planner.

“Great, I’ll make a note of it for myself and feel free to come down at 6:00 pm. Just make sure you knock before coming in,” Raiden said.

“Okay. Thank you, so much, Professor Raiden,” Althea gushed with gratefulness.

“It’s no problem. It’s nice to have a student so intrigued by what I teach.”

Althea zipped her bag closed and got up. She noticed that Raiden was in the process of putting his things away, also preparing to leave.

“I’m glad I signed up for the course. I don’t know, I guess I just like the way you present the material. Makes for an interesting class and even though it’s my last class of the day, I know I won’t fall asleep during it because of a boring lecture.”

Raiden chuckled quietly at her statement before sliding his computer bag over his shoulder.

“Thank you. After years of teaching here, I still never quite understood how some students can fall asleep anywhere. I’ve tried to make it so my class isn’t one of those places.”

They walked out of his office together, and he took a moment to lock his door.

“How did you end up being a professor here?” Althea asked.

Raiden’s mind washed over with fond memories of just how exactly he ended up here.

“Let’s just say that someone close to me told me I was a good teacher and that I was always meant for guiding and teaching others,” Raiden answered.

“That’s cool,” Althea said as they began walking toward the elevators.

“How did you end up choosing biology for your major?”

“Oh. I was always good in science class growing up. By the time I took biology in high school, I realized that I was actually fascinated by the subject itself. I honestly only picked it as my major because I knew it was something I’d enjoy and never lose interest in.”

“That’s quite nice. I hadn’t known until my junior year of college what I wanted to go into, but I at least knew I wanted to work in history of some sort.”

Once they got to the elevators, Raiden pressed the button and the doors to one of the elevators opened. They stepped into the small elevator, and Althea pressed the button for the ground floor to the history building.

“By the way, here’s a card with my office phone number in case you can’t reach me via email. It has a voicemail, so you can leave me a message that way,” Raiden said and pulled a card out of his pocket, extending it to her.

“Thank you,” Althea responded and reached to take it from him.

She didn’t know why in that moment, but she chose to look up at him. Then, their eyes locked much like they had before.

Except this time, Raiden couldn’t completely ignore his gut screaming at him that something was different, yet he was recognizing something with her. He had seen those eyes before. Green eyes with specks of blue and gold dusted throughout them. It irritated him that he couldn’t place where and when he had, but he definitely had seen them once before.

Just like he had felt this touch before. The brush of her fingertips against his knuckles. Perhaps not the same situation with the same intentions, but similar. For the Elder Gods, he couldn’t decide whether or not the memory of that touch was more or less intimate than handing a piece of paper over to another person, but it was quickly driving him up the wall.

Althea wasn’t in too different of a state of mind. The pale blue button-down shirt Raiden was wearing only emphasized the blue of his eyes. And she couldn’t help but stare at him like a moth drawn to flame.

Plus, when her fingers just grazed his skin, a spark ran through her hand and up her arm. She knew this feeling. Like some weird sense of Deja vu washed over her alongside that tingle she felt.

The elevator made a _ding_ when it reached the ground floor, causing both Raiden and Althea to jump and look over to the doors. Then, they looked back at each other before Althea took the card from Raiden, keeping her eyes averted from him. Although, he refused to look in her direction.

They stepped out of the elevator together and walked in silence out of the building. “I’ll see you on Monday, Althea,” Raiden gave his farewell, now looking at her briefly.

His glance caught her gaze and he took mental note of the waning pink to her cheeks. “Yeah. See you on Monday. Have a good weekend, Professor,” Althea replied.

“You as well,” Raiden said before turning away and heading toward the parking lot.

Althea watched his back for a moment before going to her dorm.

***

“Althea,” Raiden voice was sharp.

The staff was thrown out of her hands again as she was knocked to the floor.

“Sorry,” Althea apologized from where she landed.

Raiden sighed before walking over to her and extending his hand to her. Her hand took his and he pulled her to her feet. It took a few moments for her to get her balance as she stood on unsteady legs.

“Stop apologizing. It’s not necessary nor do you have anything to be sorry for,” Raiden stated.

“I’m sor-...Right,” Althea clenched her jaw to stop herself.

“You can talk to me. You know this,” Raiden said, his voice softening.

“I can’t focus right now. My body isn’t responding well right now either. I tried to block that last hit and I couldn’t do it.”

Raiden picked up her staff and put it away with his. He placed his hand on her shoulder before leading her to his quarters.

He invited her to inside for tea, allowing her to sit at the small table while he brewed it.

Althea remained quiet until Raiden joined her, sitting opposite her, and setting the tray on the table.

“Thank you, Raiden,” Althea whispered, accepting the cup of tea Raiden offered to her.

“You’re welcome,” Raiden replied. He drank from his cup and simply observed Althea.

“I’ve been trying to train more later at night,” Althea finally confessed. “I thought it would help unveil my power before the tournament, but I was sorely mistaken.”

“Have you been taking any time to give your body respite from training? Like going to the springs?” Raiden asked.

“No. I have not,” Althea answered honestly, unable to look at Raiden.

He watched her with a calm expression. She had finished her tea rather quickly but didn’t dare reach to pour a second cup. Her empty cup simply sat on the table while she fidgeted under his gaze.

“You don’t need me to tell you what you chose to do was wrong considering your body is suffering from the effects of it. But, I must impress the seriousness of doing this without my knowledge.”

Althea’s heart sank with his words. If anything, anger would have been better than hearing this oddly calm disappointment from him. Him sighing once again only added to her guilt of not telling him.

“Do you trust me?” Raiden asked.

“Yes,” Althea chanced a look up at him, curious of what he was thinking.

Raiden held his hand out palm up to her. Unlike the last time he did this, when she hadn’t known who he was or why he had come to her, she didn’t hesitate for a moment before putting her hand in his.

The electricity from him flowed through her, up her arm and into the rest of her body. Yet, despite the fact that she tensed with the anticipation of pain, she never felt it. While the blue light flickered over and around her body, her eyes found Raiden’s. His were glowing more brightly than she had seen in a while. The last time she had seen them like that was when he used his powers to protect her from those beasts that invaded Earthrealm.

When his eyes stopped glowing as intensely as they were, and the electricity stopped flowing between them, Althea realized something. Her body was no longer in pain.

“Did you just-,” she started but Raiden cut her off.

“I will not do it again should you overwork yourself and not go through the appropriate means to let your body relax,” Raiden stated firmly.

His fingers let go of her hand, but she caught his before he could pull away completely.

“Thank you, Raiden. I will not fail you again.”

“You have not failed me yet, Althea,” Raiden’s words rang with their sincerity.

Althea smiled at him in the first time in so long that Raiden couldn’t help but offer her a small one in return upon seeing that she was truly happy. It had been too long since he’d seen a smile from her that touched her eyes, and he had honestly missed it.

His hand lightly squeezed hers before he let go.

“Would you like another cup of tea?” Raiden asked.

Althea nodded in reply because she didn’t dare try to speak after because of how hard her heart was hammering against her chest.

He poured tea into her cup and handed it to her before gazing at her. Althea’s focus was on the cup in her hands.

The only question Raiden had in his mind was had it been his heart rate thrumming against his fingertips or had it been hers?

***

“So, how have the meetings with Dr. Raiden been?” Liu asked.

“Been going pretty good, honestly,” Althea answered, taking a bite of curry.

“Then how is your essay coming?” Liu questioned with a smirk.

Althea stopped mid-bite to shoot him a half glare before stuffing her mouth full of food.

“That’s what I thought,” he laughed.

“It’s not that simple! Figuring out what references there are that have the information I need for medical treatment during the Sengoku period of civil war aren’t exactly easy to find!” Althea exclaimed, covering her mouth with a napkin.

“I know. I know. Have you at least started it?”

“I have five out of twenty-five pages written,” Althea said.

He took a sip of water before saying, “That’s pretty good for how much time you have left.”

“With midterms next week, it’s not going to be. I need thirteen pages ready by then for the halfway point check in,” Althea stated, stabbing at a piece of chicken.

“You’ll get it done.”

“Yeah. Okay, Mr. All-Nighters-Aren’t-That-Bad,” Althea replied sarcastically.

“They’re totally not unless you don’t have time to sleep the next day,” Liu argued.

“Maybe you can do them, but I can’t.”

“What? Do you need beauty sleep?” he teased.

“Always!” Althea played along.

Liu smirked before asking, “Trying to look nice and impress someone?”

This time when she froze up, her fork was still stabbed through some chicken, but she didn’t say anything.

“Oh shit. You are interested in someone,” Liu quickly said through a bite of his dinner.

“It’s nothing like what you think,” Althea stated.

“Then what is it that I think?”

“I’m not interested in someone the way you think.”

“So, you don’t want to sleep with them or be in a relationship with them,” Liu said bluntly.

Althea’s refusal to look at him told Liu everything he needed to know.

“Right. So, who is it?” he asked.

“Oh, my god. Stop! I don’t even know what my feelings are for him.”

“So, it’s a guy. And obviously if you want to look nice for him, you want to know him better...It’s not me is it?”

“Liu, don’t you think I know you well already? No, it’s not you.”

“Hey, gotta do process of elimination.”

“I’m not going to tell you,” Althea said.

Raiden was walking through campus, on his way to pick some books up for the library. As he passed by some of the buildings, he noticed a few of his former students inside the cafe on campus. Then, his eyes landed on Liu Kang and Althea. The two were laughing about something Liu had said. He watched as Liu got up to throw out the trash before returning to Althea. She was standing by the table and Liu wrapped his arm around her shoulders while the two left the cafe through the door on the opposite side of the building from Raiden. The professor picked up his pace, briskly walking into the library while trying to ignore the pang of anger and sadness that had struck him in the chest.

The process of carrying the books to his car seemed to fly by, yet even when he was home, his mind was still stuck back outside the cafe, wondering when Liu and Althea had become that close. Althea never mentioned Liu outside of the first time they spoke together. Liu hadn’t said much about Althea, but maybe that was because he was trying to keep his personal life...well, personal.

Raiden concluded that he wouldn’t make assumptions just yet about his two students. No matter the evidence that pointed him toward a conclusion he didn’t like.

Liu walked with Althea, arm slung loosely around her shoulders.

“Well, if you ask me, you don’t need to try to impress anyone. Just be you and I’m sure he’ll fall in love with you for you,” Liu said.

“Thanks, Liu. But I don’t know if that’ll work for him,” Althea replied.

“Why not? What’s he like?”

“He’s intelligent, mature, and really easy to get along with.”

“Is he in any of your classes?”

“Yes, but he’s not in my major,” Althea said, choosing her words carefully.

“That was a dumb question considering you’re taking three classes outside of your major. Oh! Is he in Dr. Raiden’s class with us?” Liu asked.

Althea didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure of what it was with Raiden, but something about him drew her closer. And considering how many times they had caught themselves staring at the other, he had to have felt the same way about her.

“I’m assuming that’s a yes that he’s in that class,” Liu stated, pulling Althea out of her thoughts.

“I’m not answering any more questions about it tonight. Tell me about your love life. Like how did asking that girl out go?”

“You wanna know about Kitana? Well, your boy still has yet to ask her because she’s always with her best friend and her best friend is...intimidating. But! I think tomorrow is going to be the day,” Liu smiled widely.

“Well, good luck,” Althea patted his back a couple times.

His took his arm off of her shoulders and parted ways to go to their dorms.

***

Althea struggled to push herself up off of the ground.

“I believe we should stop for today. The tournament is a couple days away and you need time to recover,” Raiden said.

“No,” Althea argued. “I’m okay. I can keep going.” She barely managed to get herself up to a knee.

“You’re in no condition to continue today,” Raiden replied sternly.

Finally, she made it up to her feet, unsteady, but standing.

“One more round,” Althea stated, holding her hands up in a shaky stance.

Raiden heaved a heavy sigh. “I do not wish for you to be injured. By my hand or by your body giving up before your mind.”

“I can take it.”

Despite her words, Raiden still wasn’t convinced but saw that she wouldn’t waver in her decision. Reluctantly, he got into his fighting stance. “Very well, Althea. Have it your way.”

It barely took Raiden a minute before he had Althea laid out on her back, groaning in pain.

“Althea,” Raiden’s voice was thick with worry.

She turned over onto her stomach as he approached her. But, Raiden stopped part of the way to her.

“Just...give me...a few minutes,” Althea said, eyes clenched shut in focus as she tried to get up.

“Althea, look at your hands,” Raiden stated, staring.

She made it up to her knees before she opened her eyes. Her hands had a yellow aura around them.

“What is this?” she asked, looking to Raiden.

The confusion on his face didn’t help her.

“I would have said you have found your power, yet I do not know what your power is,” Raiden answered.

Forcing herself to her feet, she took up a fighting stance once more. “Only one way to find out.”

“Althea, I do not wish to continue this.”

“Even if it reveals what my power is,” Althea said.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he replied.

“You won’t.”

Raiden watched as her form steadied from her previous shaking and the aura spread part way down her forearms and encompassed her feet as well.

“Are you sure?” Raiden asked.

“I won’t lie to you. I don’t know. But I will find out.”

Raiden nodded at her words and she lunged at him. He blocked her first few strikes, but each one was harder than the last despite her muscles straining the same amount for every hit. He landed a series of lightning attacks on her, but she seemed to simply take the hit and continue on with sparring. One punch grazed his arm. It was stronger than the earlier few he blocked.

Realization dawn upon him just before Althea landed a kick to his side. Raiden flew to the side with the impact of her kick.

“Raiden!” Althea shouted.

The yellow aura vanished from her lower arms and feet as she went to rush over to his side. Except, she only went three steps before her legs turned to jelly. Raiden caught her before she could hit the ground, wrapping one arm tightly around her back.

“Are you okay?” Althea asked, fighting to stay conscious.

“I am. You, on the other hand, need to rest,” Raiden responded.

“Okay. I’ll…” Althea trailed off in the middle of her reply, head lulling to the side as she succumbed to sleep.

Raiden went to take a deep breath, to finally let out the relief of finding her power and the fact that she was okay, until his side screamed in pain. He placed a hand over the freshly healed ribs that had been broken when Althea kicked him. The area was still tender to the touch.

He shook his head before picking Althea up. His side disagreed with the action, but he ignored it to the best of his ability. Her health was more important than his own for the time being.

Raiden walked into his room and laid her down on the futon in the corner. This way, he could watch over her as she recovered, and he took time to properly exam the ribs that she had broken.

***

Despite the fact it had been a week since he’d seen Althea with Liu in the cafe, the image of them laughing and leaving together was burned into his mind. His chest stung with the jealousy he refused to acknowledge for what it was, and he kept saying that he had heartburn or was getting a migraine whenever someone said he was acting out of it.

The soft knocks on his door alerted him to Althea opening it.

“Hey, Doctor,” Althea greeted, entering his office.

“Hello, Althea,” Raiden replied and looked to her from his computer.

She closed the door behind herself and sat in her usual chair, putting her bag in the other.

“How are you?” Althea asked. She reached into her bag and pulled out her laptop.

“I’m doing well. And yourself?” Raiden responded.

“Good! I finished my rough draft of the first ten pages for the term paper last night and wanted you to look it over,” Althea quickly pulled up the paper before offering her laptop to the professor.

He took it and set it on his desk to go over it. Silently, he went through it while she pulled out her phone.

After a few minutes, Raiden handed her laptop back.

“It’s good. I’d prefer there to be more details and deeper explanations, but you can do those for your final version of the paper. Aside for those minor things, I believe it’s a good start,” Raiden told her.

“Thank you, for everything. For doing these meetings, finding textbooks and other sources for me to borrow, and helping me really organize all this information for my paper,” Althea’s sincerity poured from her eyes.

Deep down inside, Raiden couldn’t deny what he had known since the last time he saw her. Especially not when she looked at him like that.

“You’re welcome. But it wasn’t any trouble at all. I’ve enjoyed sharing all I’ve learned with you.”

“Between you and Liu, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a class so much,” Althea smiled.

Her smile caused a small one to grace his lips.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Raiden said even though the only thing he could think about was that she mentioned Liu Kang.

“Like just last week, I went to dinner with Liu and he told me that you had taken time to track down some text sources for my paper and stayed late to pick them up from the library once they arrived. And I can’t express to you enough how appreciative I am.”

After what she said, Raiden may have stared at her for a couple moments too long. She _hadn’t_ been on a date with Liu Kang? Is that what she was implying?

He cleared his throat before saying, “I thought I saw you two together at the cafe.”

“That was us! You should have joined us. Liu wouldn’t stop harping on me to go after a guy I’m interested in,” Althea told him.

“Really? Sounds like you had your hands full with him.”

“Yeah, but I got him to stop trying to guess who it is and got him to talk about Kitana. He said he was going to ask her out, but he still hasn’t done it yet.”

“With how close you two are, I’m surprised he wasn’t on a date with you,” Raiden said. He needed to hear the exact words from her.

“Me and Liu?” Althea chuckled. “He’s a nice guy, but I’d never think of him as anything other than a good friend.”

And with that, she just confirmed that she wasn’t on a date with Liu Kang. Raiden’s shoulders relaxed in relief that she wasn’t with one of his favorite pupils.

The movement didn’t go unnoticed by Althea. Since the moment she came into his office, Raiden had seemed tense or apprehensive, but telling him that she wasn’t on a date with Liu caused him to relax?

“Why do you ask? Are you worried about Liu?” Althea asked.

“Well, if you and Liu Kang were ever to date, I’d hope that he’d take care of you and if he hadn’t, then you would tell me,” he answered while he moved some papers around on his desk, averting his eyes from her.

She never imagined that she’d find a topic that would make him uncomfortable, but she did. Especially after all the journals and other sources they had gone over together from the civil war about husbands and wives or lovers and such.

He knew his responses and actions were just making her suspicious, but he didn’t know what else to do. She was so close to verbalizing exactly what he was thinking-feeling for her that it was scaring him to straight honesty. And if he was honest, he’d answer whatever she asked.

“Do you have any advice for me?” Althea tested the question.

“For your paper? Or for your personal life?” Raiden asked for clarification.

“Truthfully, I’d take both, but you’ve already told me what you thought of my paper. This time, I’m asking for my personal life.”

“I hope you realize you’re asking a terrible source,” Raiden stated.

“Why is that?”

“I have never married, and I’m not currently involved with anyone. Nor have I been in some time,” he answered.

“Really? When was the last time you were on a date or went out with someone you were interested in?”

“...It’s been some time,” Raiden offered a vague answer.

He hadn’t spent time intimately with another in years. The last time he had, well, things were different.

“Why don’t you take Professor Sindel out?” Althea tried to give him an idea.

“She is currently working things out with her ex-husband,” Raiden replied.

Althea’s expression shifted as she feared she overstepped a boundary, but when no negative repercussion came, it softened back to a relaxed look.

“What about you? Why not go out with Kung Lao or Kuai Liang, Bi-Han’s little brother?” Raiden questioned.

“I’ve never really saw either of them like that. And, besides, they aren’t the one I’m interested in.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, who are you interested in?” Raiden asked.

Althea’s heart slammed against her chest. He didn’t just ask that. He didn’t. There’s no way.

“...I’m kind of...It’s difficult for me to admit still. Because it feels like we have come from two separate worlds entirely, but when we’re together, when we talk, we somehow meet on the same plane. And I’m worried about what people will say if they see me with him because we are...I’ll say different.”

“Okay. That doesn’t help me with trying to give you advice, but I’m glad that you two can come together to understand one another,” Raiden forced a small smile.

Althea noted that it didn’t touch his eyes.

“Honestly, I’m worried because he’s older than me.”

“It’s pretty normal for your partner to be within five years old-,” Althea cut him off.

“It’s more significant than five years.”

He couldn’t stop his eyes from widening in surprise.

“How much so?”

“If I say, you’ll know who he is and I...I can’t say it yet.”

“Very well,” Raiden placed a hand on his chin as he thought.

Dear god, how quickly had she gone from getting him to go on a date to him nearly finding out he was the person she was interested in? But would it really be so terrible if he did find out? He clearly enjoyed having her around and was always looking out for her, especially with what he said about her and Liu.

Her heart continued hammering hard in her ears as she focused on him. His white hair was around shoulder length that he usually kept pulled back in one way or another. For the moment, part of it fell in front of his right shoulder.

Raiden was zoned out, staring at his desk, while he subconsciously bit his lower lip. It was a trait Althea noticed when he was doing work during their exams or whenever he was truly thinking in depth on something. And then, she wanted nothing more than to lean over his desk and feel those lips against hers.

The moment she realized what exactly her thoughts were, her face flushed, and Raiden looked up at her.

“We could get lunch tomorrow and talk over this some more,” Raiden suggested. He watched as her cheeks deepened into a lovely shade of red.

“Y-yeah. That sounds good,” Althea put away her laptop and avoided looking Raiden in the eye.

“What time would you like to go to lunch then?” Raiden asked.

“It depends on what time I get out of my class. Here’s my cell phone number. Text me so that I can text you when I’m out tomorrow,” Althea quickly scribbled her number onto a post-it note. She pulled the note off the stack and offered it to Raiden. He took it from her just as her eyes met his.

“I’ll do that. See you tomorrow,” Raiden said.

The hopefulness in his words and the promise of seeing him again had her smiling a farewell before leaving his office.

***

“You’re awake,” Raiden offered a smile as he knelt down beside Althea. “How do you feel?”

Althea sat up as her eyes quickly darted around the room before settling on him. “...Sore. What about you? I swear, I didn’t mean to hurt you but when I landed the kick-,” Althea started but stopped when Raiden raised his hand.

“Your power is fairly passive as you do not have to think about it for it to activate. That being said, once it does activate, the aura around your hands and feet will appear. Essentially, your power works in a way that the harder you are hit, the harder you will hit.”

“Like hits I receive will increase the power of my own strikes?” Althea asked.

“Yes, that is a good explanation of it.”

“So, the longer a fight goes on, the better off I will be?”

“If you can hold out for that long, yes. Keep in mind that your power does not buffer or lessen any of the hits you take. You take on the entirety of the hit, full impact. If you are able to continue on, then your strikes will be more powerful.”

“Okay. That’s not too hard to understand.”

“It isn’t too difficult yet. Learning to use it effectively will be.”

Althea looked away from Raiden and actually took in her surroundings.

“Why are we in your room?” Althea questioned.

“This is where I brought you after you fainted from discovering your power,” Raiden answered.

She was in his futon and there was a bowl with a folded cloth beside it on the floor.

“You took care of me,” she stated.

“As I would for any of my pupils,” Raiden responded, all-too-quickly for her to overlook.

“You would carry them to your personal quarters to watch over them until they regained consciousness?” Althea asked skeptically.

The look on Raiden’s face screamed that she called his bluff.

“P-perhaps not all of them,” Raiden replied with a slight stutter to his words.

“Thank you,” Althea smiled and placed her hand in one of his.

His posture eased at her touch. “I just finished brewing some ginseng tea. Would you like some?” he offered.

“Yes, please. Thank you, Raiden,” Althea replied.

He gave her hand a light squeeze before rising up and going to get the tea. Althea continued with her earlier look around the room. Raiden had a few items in the room outside of furniture, but not much. There was a closet, a table, the futon, and a small kitchenette along with a couple calligraphy paintings. Everything was extremely tidy.

Raiden returned, sitting beside her once more as he set the tray down beside them and poured two cups of tea.

“I like the calligraphy paintings you have. What do they say?” Althea asked, bringing the cup to her lips.

A fond smile slid across his lips before Raiden sheepishly answered, “A pupil of mine knew an artist and asked a favor of him. The favor was to paint thunder and lightning on two separate canvases. I’ve kept them as mementos of him.”

“They’re beautiful.”

He held his tongue, resisting the urge to say the cliched line of how she was more beautiful, and instead sipped from his cup while he watched her examine the thunder painting. Adoring the way her green eyes with specks of blue and gold took in the art, he hoped that he would never forget how much he loved this moment.

“Raiden?” Althea asked.

He seemed to have zoned out staring, but he was staring at her. And she couldn’t help but notice the smile that overtook his usual neutral expression. For once, he seemed completely relaxed in her presence for the first time in a long time.

Althea started to reach for his cheek and paused halfway. When she completely committed to the movement, her fingertips brushing along his cheek and jaw, his eyes focused on her.

“Althea,” Raiden said softly.

He gently took her hand off his face, holding it in his own before her lips parted to speak. Yet, no words ever left her lips. Rather, Raiden’s lips pressed against hers, and any words she had stopped there. Her eyes immediately shut after a moment of shock.

Althea’s hand not holding his lightly grabbed onto his shoulder, pulling him just a little closer while his other hand held the back of her neck, pressing her lips harder against his.

She whispered his name, sliding her hand from his shoulder down to his chest. Then, as she continued tracing a path down his body, her hand brushed over the spot she had kicked him. Raiden winched heavily, his breath leaving him from pain, and broke from their kiss.

“What’s wrong, Raiden?” Althea asked.

Then, she noticed his hand going over hers on his side.

“What happened-...Isn’t that where I kicked you?” she pressed him.

He met her worried gaze before reluctantly answering, “Yes. The impact of the kick broke a few of my ribs. It is not anything for you to fret over. I will heal in time.”

Althea’s eyes left his to look at his side.

“Let me see,” she stated.

“Althea, there is not-,” Raiden started but the remorseful look in her eyes shut him up.

Her hand gripped his tightly. “Please, Raiden. I didn’t mean to hurt you like this. Not before the tournament. Not ever, even if it was an accident while sparring.”

Raiden cupped her cheek. “Do not blame yourself for this. I do not blame you.”

“Then ease my mind by letting me help you,” Althea argued.

He smiled at her insistence. “I believe all I need of you is for you to rest. There is little you can do to help bone that has already begun healing back together. I require time for the entire process and cannot do it instantaneously. But, should it ease your mind into listening to what I’m saying, then I will let you see it.”

Raiden lifted the hem of his shirt, revealing a large purple bruise that had yellow and browns tones to it.

“I mean, I understand you are a god and that, but would any mortal treatments work for you? It looks painful and usually putting ice on injuries like that is the best way to soothe it,” Althea suggested after grimacing when she saw it.

The shirt slid back down over the bruise.

“As I said, some things take time. It’s been a while since the initial injury to my ribs, but I can assure you that within 24 hours of sustaining the injury, I will be back to normal.”

“Okay. I trust your word. But, please, if it doesn’t heal, let me know.”

“I will. Now, get some rest. You will need it for the tournament.”

Althea nodded before moving to get up from Raiden’s futon.

“What are you doing?” Raiden asked her almost immediately after she took the blanket off of herself.

“Going to get some rest?” Althea questioned in turn.

“You’re more than welcome to stay here. Especially since you’ve been here since this morning,” Raiden answered.

“Then where are you going to sleep?”

“I am a god. Sleep is not necessary for me to function,” Raiden replied hesitantly.

Althea winced at her own ignorance. “Right. You don’t do or need the same things humans do.”

Raiden cupped her cheek, thumb caressing along her cheekbone. “Rest, Althea. I will be nearby should you need me.”

“Okay,” she gave in and laid back down.

He closed his eyes after she had been lying asleep for a few minutes. A silent sigh escaped his lips as a vision reminded him of her fate. It was approaching much sooner than he had remembered.

Upon opening his eyes and seeing her at peace, Raiden stood. A consultation with an ally was much needed before Althea entered Mortal Kombat.

***

“I’m gonna be honest. This feels a little weird,” Althea told Raiden from across the table.

They had taken a corner table at a cafe outside of the town that the college was in, so that they’d run into less students and faculty, but people still stared.

“People will always have their opinions on what they see,” Raiden stated.

“I’m not used to having eyes on me like this,” Althea replied.

“From the women judging you with envious looks or the men trying to be subtle about the lustful gazes they’re sending your way?” Raiden inquired.

Althea glanced around quickly before asking, “Are we seeing the same cafe?”

“We are. I’ve just been around long enough to see the same eyes in different people.” Raiden then took a long drink from his tea.

“Have you seen my eyes before?” Althea questioned, genuinely curious.

And, as badly as Raiden wanted to say yes he had, he couldn’t say where he had seen her eyes before. So, he held her gaze for a few moments, enjoying the curiosity and hope he saw there.

“I believe I have, although, I am not sure I can say exactly where,” he answered carefully.

“Oh. Okay.” There went her hopefulness along with her averting her eyes.

It was like a bad itch he couldn’t scratch. He absolutely knew he had seen her eyes, well, just about everything about her screamed at him in familiarity, but never anything distinctive in his memory.

“Although I don’t think you have been around long enough, do you think you have seen my eyes before?” Raiden asked.

Her gaze rose back up to meet his once more.

She didn’t hesitate when she responded, “Yes.”

One of his eyebrows rose in interest. That was not the answer he was suspecting. But, if she was finding things about him familiar, then this was something else entirely.

“Where have you seen them before?”

Her mouth opened with an answer but closed as confusion overtook her features.

“I honestly don’t know. It’s just-I feel like I know I have seen you before taking your course,” she said.

“I believed for the longest time that I had seen you on campus before,” Raiden told her.

“I thought that too until it didn’t make sense because I never came to your end of campus before your class.”

“And I don’t ever see the science buildings either.”

Althea took a sip from her coffee.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Raiden said, offered a smile, and stood up.

She watched as he headed toward the restroom before looking out the window. A soft sigh left her. At least now she knew that Raiden had been thinking the same thing as her, that her sense of Deja vu wasn’t misplaced. Yet, the root of the problem remained: where had they seen each other before?

“Hey,” a voice greeted from beside her.

It pulled Althea out of her thoughts and back to reality.

“Hey yourself,” Althea replied, glancing up and down the guy that joined her.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked.

“I do,” Althea answered disinterested.

“Could you just hear me out?” the guy’s voice was wearing thin with his patience.

He took her silence as a go-ahead.

“I saw that the old geezer finally left you alone and was wondering if I could get your number,” the guy said, taking Raiden’s seat from across from her.

Her back straightened immediately.

“How dare you insult-,” Althea started but the guy cut her off.

“Listen, you can do much better than going out to places with gramps,” he stated and reached for her hand.

His fingers wrapped around her wrist before Althea could pull her hand away.

“Hey! Let go of me!” Althea tried to pull her hand out of his grasp.

“I told you-,” the guy was cut off.

“Don’t touch her,” a voice rumbled before grabbing the guy’s wrist and pulling his hand off of Althea’s.

Althea and the guy looked up to see Raiden glaring fiercely down at the guy.

“Look man,” the guy tried to lie.

“No,” Raiden interrupted him. “You have no right to lay your hands on her.”

Raiden pulled the guy up from the chair and leaned down, getting in the guy’s face. Raiden tried to keep a neutral expression, but his face kept giving way to small twitches of anger.

“Leave. Now,” Raiden stated.

He released the guy’s wrist and the guy hurried to leave the cafe.

“I apologize, Althea,” was all Raiden got out before Althea interrupted him.

“Thank you, Raiden,” she said with the utmost gratefulness.

Raiden’s eyes turned to her surprised.

“Take a walk with me? I’d like to stretch my legs,” Althea suggested, standing up.

He wasn’t quite sure where she was going with it, but he went along with her.

“Sure,” he replied, taking her jacket and helping her put it on.

Raiden slid his own on before they grabbed their drinks and left the cafe.

“I meant it. When I said thank you for stopping that guy,” Althea said.

“You don’t have to thank me for that. I couldn’t stand and watch that happen just because I walked away,” Raiden responded.

“I don’t know what to say if I can’t thank you,” Althea told him.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Raiden said before taking a sip from his tea. “Just stay close.”

He offered her his arm and Althea took it with her right hand, stepping closer to him as they walked.

Silently, they continued. When they came across a trash can, both threw out their empty cups.

Althea placed her newly freed hand on Raiden’s arm, testing to see if it bothered him. He only gave her a smile in response. She looked away from him, cheeks burning in a deep blush.

Then, her eyes shot back to Raiden when she felt his hand on top of hers.

“Raiden,” Althea said his name softly.

“Yes?” Raiden asked, yet kept his eyes forward.

“We never got to talk about the reason we went to lunch at the cafe,” she stated.

“No, we did not.”

They turned into the park, strolling along lightly snowed over trails.

“So,” Althea started, “you tell me why you’ve stayed out of the dating scene and I’ll do my best to talk about the man I’m interested in.”

“All right,” Raiden agreed. “I haven’t dated in...well, in a few years because it is not necessary for me. I enjoy my work with the university in the history department, I give lectures around the state and occasionally other state colleges, and I have found that to be the most rewarding for me personally. I will admit, every now and again I feel the loneliness, but it isn’t anything overly powering to where I need to find another to be with. Whether it’d be for a night or a year, I haven’t needed to be with another romantically or intimately. Besides, it’s not like I spend every night at home alone. Often, probably more than not, I go out to a restaurant or somewhere with a few of the other professors.”

“Which ones?”

“Fujin, Sindel, and Bo Rai Cho,” Raiden answered.

“You are close with Professor Sindel!” Althea remarked.

“Of course. How else would I have known about her reconciliation with her ex-husband?”

“Right. Duh,” Althea said, but still smiled. “Would you ever consider dating?”

“I would,” Raiden replied hesitantly.

“I feel like there’s a but in that statement.”

He smiled before saying, “You’re not wrong. Although, I don’t think it’s that important.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

“Okay, okay.”

“Now, I believe is when you tell me about the man you’re interested in,” Raiden claimed.

“You would be right. You did tell me what I asked for and I suppose I should tell you what I said I would,” Althea responded.

“It is up to you if you want to tell me,” Raiden told her.

“No, you trusted me enough to tell me what you did. I only feel it’s right if I do the same for you,” Althea took a deep breath before she got into it. “Liu Kang got me to confess to the person I’m interested being in your history class with us. Despite the fact he narrowed it down to around twenty guys, he still hasn’t figured it out even though he’s guessed every guy taking your class. And I’ve told Liu that it’s not him.”

Althea held her breath as they stopped walking. Raiden faced her, and their arms disentangled.

“You never said whether or not it was a student,” Raiden stated.

“No, I did not. I only told Liu that it was someone outside of my major, which led him to the assumption that it was a student.”

From the look on his face, Althea knew he knew who she meant. Raiden knew it was him. And his gaze held hers unwaveringly.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, she moved closer to him. She gently cupped his cheek and pulled him lower as she leaned up. Her lips pressed lightly against Raiden’s.

Then, as the realization of what she was doing hit her, Althea stepped away from him and covered her mouth with her hand.

“I’m so sorry,” was all Althea whispered before sprinting away from a stunned Raiden.

***

There were a few soft knocks on her door. It cracked opened. “Althea,” Raiden quietly called her name.

“Come in, Raiden,” she replied.

When she turned around, he extended to her a box tied with some twine like a present.

“What’s this?” Althea asked.

“I consulted with a few of my allies in regard to the tournament. One gave me advice and the other offered advice as well as attire that is more suitable for fighting,” Raiden answered.

Althea accepted the box before sitting down on her bed and unwrapping it. She pulled out a sleeveless top with an angular keyhole and similar shapes above and below the cutout that adorned it. The pants were next and were white in color while still being loose enough to move comfortably. Grey thigh high boots joined the rest of the ensemble. And there was a black waist cover and a length of rope that she recognized immediately. Just like Raiden’s rope belt.

“Thank you, Raiden. Who made this?” Althea questioned, continually running her hands over the material of the pants.

“Sindel of Edenia,” he replied, sitting beside her. “I told her of your powers and your fighting style. This attire is what she came up with.”

“I like the colors,” she said, marveling at the lilac top with grey and black trim.

“I will be sure to tell Sindel of your approval.”

“Stay here while I go change?” Althea asked, holding the outfit to her chest.

Raiden nodded and watched as Althea rushed into her bathroom to change. A quiet laugh bubbled out of him. Her reaction was so pure and genuine. Then, he went silent. She will most likely not be so pure after participating in Mortal Kombat.

“Raiden,” Althea poked her head out of the bathroom door.

“Yes?” he pulled his expression back to a more neutral look as he answered her.

“What do you think?” she asked.

Althea stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to stand in front of him.

“By the Elder Gods,” Raiden whispered under his breath as his eyes slid over every inch of her form. Althea heard him anyways.

“I hope that’s a good _by the Elder Gods_ even though you only say it when something bad happens,” Althea remarked, crossing her arms.

Raiden stood and took her hands in his, uncrossing her arms.

“You are breathtaking,” he told her.

He leaned down, encircling her in his arms, and captured her lips with his.

Althea hummed against his mouth, relishing in the feel of him.

After a few moments, Althea turned them and stepped backward. She fell backward on her bed, pulling Raiden with her. He landed not-so-gracefully on top of her and their kiss dissolved into laughter.

Her hand ran through his stark white locks before trailing down his neck. He simply gazed down at her lovingly as her fingers slid underneath the layers of his clothing. Raiden pressed his lips to her forehead before finding a path down to her collarbone, making sure to stop at her lips a time or two.

It wasn’t too much longer when her new attire joined his usual garb on the floor beside her bed.

“This is what we’ve spent all this time training you for. You are ready, Althea,” Raiden encouraged her.

“Right. I can get through this. If I can fight a Thunder God, I can fight anyone else and win,” Althea responded.

Raiden smiled at her and patted her shoulder comfortingly. “I have faith in you.”

She nodded before turning around and facing her competitor. He had a faint blue tone to his bare arms and he seemed to breathe puffs of cold air.

“Your opponent is Lin Kuei. He controls ice,” Raiden whispered from behind her.

“Got it,” Althea said.

They had gone over a few different kinds of races, species, and powers she may encounter. She remembered the Lin Kuei well. All she had to do was avoid getting hit with a full body freeze.

Althea stepped up along with the Lin Kuei warrior. A man by the name of Shang Tsung was in charge of refereeing the matches.

“Fight!” Tsung instructed her and the Lin Kuei.

She may have gotten the first few hits, but the Lin Kuei came back harder than she anticipated. His last punch in his combo sent her flying backward. Pushing herself off the ground, she took notice of the beginnings of a glow around her hands. At least she would be hitting hard as well.

Althea dodged three different ice shards sent her way, sliding on the ground and sweeping the warrior’s legs out from under him. Quickly, she got on top of him and managed to land three solid punches before he kicked her off. She rolled to her feet while the warrior kipped up to his.

Taking on their stances once more, they circled each other. Then, the Lin Kuei blasted her feet, freezing her to the spot before catching her entire body. If she could have shivered at the feel of the ice against every part of her exposed skin, she would have.

The warrior tackled her out of the ice. It scraped her skin as she was ripped out of her frozen prison. She took a deep breath after not being able to for a few moments. All the while, the Lin Kuei set about delivering as many body shots with icy fists to her torso.

Althea cocked one fist back before catching the warrior on his jaw, sending him flying off of her. His bone had cracked beneath her knuckles, and when she stood, she saw him holding his jaw.

Despite the remorse for hurting someone she didn’t know that filled her heart, the hatred in his eyes had her reaffirming her devotion to winning.

Now, with hands glowing a brighter yellow, Althea charged at the Lin Kuei as he charged at her. The difference in when they punched each other was that Althea’s connected in full where his did not. The Lin Kuei’s head turned so violently with her punch, his neck cracked, and he dropped to the ground.

“Althea wins!” Tsung announced.

Other members of the Lin Kuei rushed to their fallen friend’s side.

Raiden was quick to grab Althea and leave before anything more could happen.

“Did I kill him?” Althea asked Raiden, staring at her hands.

Not too long ago, their glowing had vanished, but the memory of feeling that man’s neck crack against her fist still lingered.

“No. He still breaths. You have killed no one,” Raiden assured her. He took her shaking hands in his steady ones.

Her watery eyes met his. “I’ve never seen someone I didn’t know look at me with such hatred before.”

“This tournament means a lot to many. Individuals all come from different realms to meet in Outworld for Mortal Kombat. It was set by the Elder Gods that should a champion arise from one of the eighteen realms, that realm will have won its continued freedom from Outworld.”

“Will I have to kill anyone?” Althea asked.

Raiden sighed. “Some of your opponents will not be as kind as the Lin Kuei. Some of the kombatants only join the tournament for its bloodshed.”

Althea looked away. “I don’t want to kill people.”

“Even if they want to kill you?”

“I will do what I must to survive, but I don’t enjoy it.”

“I understand. I have participated in this before,” Raiden stated.

He gave Althea’s hands a brief squeeze that she returned before she hugged him.

“Althea wins!” Tsung exclaimed at the conclusion of her third match.

She walked with little trouble over to Raiden before he teleported her away from the arena.

“Raiden, please,” she pleaded, clutching her leg.

He helped her to sit down while he knelt beside her.

“I could have come to you. You didn’t need to walk to me,” Raiden chided as he took her boot off and eased her pant leg up.

“I’m sorry. You were right. Just, please!” she begged, tears making their way down her cheeks.

“No, I’m sorry,” Raiden told her. Then, he relocated her kneecap to its normal position.

A scream of pain tore itself out of her. Raiden immediately set to healing her after that.

Althea slumped against his chest.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“Don’t thank me. As long as I never hear you scream like that again is reward enough,” Raiden said.

He rubbed her arm soothingly as they relaxed for the moment.

“Raiden, your champion from Earthrealm,” Tsung requested.

Raiden tapped her back when she looked up at him. Althea walked up to the sorcerer.

“Althea has won every match thus far. Impressive,” Tsung told the crowd. “Her final opponent shall be...me!”

Raiden couldn’t stop the concern that hit him so hard, it dropped his heart into his stomach. Althea doesn’t know the extent of the sorcerer’s power.

Just as the match began, Tsung took Raiden’s form. And it got the reaction from Althea that Tsung wanted, her hesitation.

Althea fought valiantly. Going as far as to punch Tsung hard enough to break his neck. But, it was a ploy on his part. He dropped to the ground, feigning defeat while Althea raised her glowing hands in victory.

“Rai-,” was all she got out. Once her back was turned to him, Tsung stood and punched through her chest.

Althea looked down to see her heart beating outside of her body. Her eyes barely found Raiden’s before they rolled back. Tsung crushed her heart, leaving a bloody mess, before ripping his hand back through her body. Raiden caught her collapsing body before teleporting back to Sky Temple.

The storms that passed over Sky Temple had never been so intense.

***

After noticing she missed two classes despite having been to class when she was sick and seeing how concerned Raiden was when he brought Althea up, Liu decided to check on her.

He knocked on her dorm door. “Thea? You in there?” Liu asked.

A few moments passed with no answer before the door opened just the slightest. “You can come in,” Althea said.

Liu went into her room and watched as she sat on her bed with her back against the wall.

“Is everything okay?” Liu questioned, sitting at the foot of her bed.

“I don’t know,” she answered, refusing to look in his direction.

“Do you want to tell me what happened? Or why you’re not coming to Raiden’s class?” Liu immediately saw the way she grimaced at the professor’s name. “Or does it have to do with Raiden?”

Althea sighed heavily before resigning herself to admitting what happened. “The guy I’m interested in is Raiden,” Althea stated.

She didn’t need to look at Liu to know that his jaw was currently on her bed.

Once his brain finally processed the information, a few stuttering starts to questions came out but no actual questions.

“We went out to lunch last Thursday, and...I may have kissed him,” she confessed.

“Wow. Okay. Um, ignoring your selection of guy for the moment, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Not when it ends with me apologizing and running away.”

“Why did you run?”

“I don’t know!” her head snapped over to him. “I panicked, and then I ran.”

“Did he kiss you back?”

“I don’t think he did. It was a quick kiss though.”

“He may have been stunned by it,” Liu suggested.

“I literally admitted to him that he was the guy I liked before I did it.”

“What did he say to that?”

“Nothing,” Althea grabbed a pillow and held it to her chest.

“For what it’s worth, he’s really worried about you,” Liu told her.

“I hate missing his class, but I can’t go. Not when I don’t know what to expect from him. Both in class and outside of it.”

“You’re really pushing his attendance policy. You get two free absences. After that, it’ll screw with your grade,” Liu warned.

“What am I supposed to do?” Althea questioned.

“He’s got office hours right now. Go see him and talk to him.”

“Liu,” she stated.

“I’m serious. You don’t know what his take on everything is, and I’ll be honest, if a girl I liked kissed me and ran away, I’d want to talk with her.”

“How do you know he likes me? You didn’t even know that I liked him.”

“Because I haven’t seen him ever act like this. And, if he didn’t push you away, then he probably was thinking the same as you when you kissed him.”

She held Liu’s gaze before huffing a sigh and looking away as she said, “Fine! I’ll go.”

“I have no idea what to do,” Raiden confessed.

The office door was shut and Sindel sat in front of him. She had listened to him retell the story of him and his student. Her lips pursued as Raiden slightly fidgeted under her scrutinizing gaze.

“Have you tried contacting her?” Sindel asked.

“No. I haven’t,” Raiden answered.

“You should. Poor girl probably thinks you don’t want to talk to her. She made a bold move. I’m not saying that you froze or didn’t want her to kiss you, but you didn’t respond quick enough before she concluded that she was wrong in thinking that you like her.”

“What am I supposed to say to her? It’s not like I...I don’t know what to say to her.”

“Be honest with her. About what you’re feeling. You can never go wrong with being honest. Besides, I’m sure you two will work things out. I haven’t seen you act like this in...in a long time,” Sindel replied with a fond look in her eyes.

“I feel like a fool,” Raiden stated.

“I’ve only heard you say that once before,” Sindel said, grabbing a trinket off her desk and playing with it.

“And when was that?”

“Years ago. When things were different.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s been so long. We’ve been here for centuries ever since the Elder Gods decided to seal off our memories of the past. We were given a second life here in Earthrealm, but, at times, I wonder what the other realms are like. I have no recollection of them no matter how hard I try. I know that I have mixed emotions toward them, but I can’t be sure whether they were overall good or bad memories there. And every time you bring up Althea, I always feel a bit of joy at her name. Perhaps, it’s because she reminds me of your last lover. All I remember of her was that she made you happy and it’d been too long since I’d seen a real smile out of you,” Sindel had fiddled with her trinket as she spoke before setting back down on her desk.

“Do any of us truly remember anything from before we were placed into the different realms? I know you and I don’t come from Earthrealm, yet we’ve had to say we do.”

“It’s frustrating, but I’m glad we ended up here. And with Fujin and Bo Rai Cho as well.”

Raiden smiled at the names of the other half of their group.

“Come on,” Sindel stood up, smoothing out her dress pants. “Let’s go to your office and call Althea.”

“Thank you, Sindel. I appreciate this,” Raiden said as he got up.

“You can thank me when you smile like you did all those years ago,” Sindel responded.

They headed over to Raiden’s office, chatting quietly as they walked.

Althea took a deep breath before reaching up to knock on Raiden’s office door. Her hand paused inches from the wood, and she suddenly found the motion of moving her wrist near impossible.

Liu somehow convinced her that this would be a great plan, but without him here reassuring her that it is had her second-guessing everything. There was a reason why Raiden hadn’t attempted to contact her, right? What if he was mortified at the idea of being with a student? What if he was upset because she overstepped her bounds? God, what if he was mad at her because she kissed him without his consent? That’s a huge problem and could be considered sexual harassment.

Her fist began shaking, and any conviction she had to carry this plan through fled from her.

Althea pressed her hand flat against the door, letting out a breath she didn’t realize that she was holding.

She had to do this. If only to let him know how she felt verbally. It needed to be done.

Sliding her hand down the door to the handle, she opened it.

“Raiden, I-,” she started but saw he wasn’t in his office.

Then, she noticed quiet voices from behind her.

“Althea,” Raiden whispered warmly. His feet froze in their place as Sindel came to stop a step ahead of him.

The student turned to looked between the two professors. Sindel immediately recognized the look slowly overtaking Althea’s features.

“As much as I’d like to stay, I believe you two should sit down and talk about what happened. And based on what you told me, she’s much braver than you,” Sindel said. She patted Raiden on the shoulder before taking her leave.

Once Sindel was gone, Althea’s eyes settled on Raiden.

“I thought you said she-,” Raiden’s head shaking side to side had her words dying before they could be spoken.

“A friend. A close one. As Liu Kang is to you,” Raiden stated. Then, he walked toward her and gestured to his open office door. “We should speak in private.”

“Right,” Althea agreed.

They entered his office with Raiden closing the door behind them.

“I’m so sorry-,” they both said in unison before looking at each other stunned.

“What?” Althea questioned.

“Why are you sorry? I’m the one who should be sorry,” Raiden responded.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you. It was impulsive, it was inappropriate, it was-,” his hands cupped her cheeks and his lips found hers instantly.

One of Althea’s hands covered his as she tilted her head, changing the angle of their kiss. Her other hand slid up to the nape of his neck while one of Raiden’s hands pulled her a step closer to him, leaving no space between them.

***

“Outworld has lost ten Mortal Kombat tournaments in a row. The realms have won their eternal freedom and separation,” the Elder Gods spoke.

“What will happen to us?” Liu Kang asked.

“You will be returned to your respective realm and live there for eternity. Or remain until we call on you,” the Elder Gods replied.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Liu questioned.

“There are powers that be that could break through the barriers of the realms and allow for travel between them, thus bringing back Mortal Kombat, but at this time, they pose no threat. Speaking of which, due to your knowledge and participation of several tournaments, we will be sealing the memories of all that will return to the realms,” they informed.

“What is the meaning of this? You have never sealed away memories of participants!” Raiden interjected.

“Outworld has never lost ten tournaments in a row before, Raiden. Besides, it is with the best intentions that we choose to do this. This will allow you all to live as normal lives as you can. You will remember this encounter so that you may always believe in us, but all prior memories to this moment will no longer be accessible to you,” the Elder Gods said.

Raiden’s stomach twisted. Years ago, he had found Althea, had loved her, and had watched her die. Now they wished to take her memory?

“This is for the best, Raiden,” the Elder Gods stated.

They began chanting in an ancient language before a bright light engulfed everyone.

When they woke up, it had felt like an out of body experience. Had he really spoken to gods? Worlds outside of Earth exist? He searched around but only found one of his allies, Fujin, close by. It didn’t take long, but they finally figured out that they hadn’t been sent to the same place on Earthrealm. Hardly anyone was. The two were in Japan, Sindel had been in western Europe, and Liu Kang had been in North America with Bo Rai Cho and Kung Lao. After searching long enough, they found Hanzo, Bi-Han, and Kuai Liang in North America as well.

Yet, no one could say how they knew each other. Just that they had been on good terms with each other. Well, mostly. Hanzo had to work through some antagonistic feelings with Bi-Han and Kuai, but the three were able to get past them.

It was Liu Kang’s idea that Raiden go into teaching. Raiden didn’t believe that he was fit for the profession, but Liu convinced him.

Sindel, Fujin, and Bo Rai Cho all joined Raiden in getting jobs teaching. They had started out with younger kids, around high school age, but quickly found that teaching at the college level was better suited for them.

Eventually, Liu Kang took Raiden’s history course and Raiden took him on as his TA. Liu told Raiden that he had been right saying that Raiden would make a good teacher. It was something along the lines of, _“You seemed like a good teacher and it’s something that you were always meant for. Guiding and teaching others.”_

And that’s where they had been ever since. Ever since they woke up from what was like a hazy dream. The longer they spent in their positions at the college, the more it seemed like it hadn’t happened. It had been so long that trying to remember what had happened prior to talking to the gods was hard to imagine. Despite a memory or Deja vu feeling the slipped past the seal every now and then, it was never enough to piece together their pasts.

So, they lived on.

***

Raiden’s head throbbed in pain as Althea gasped against his mouth and gripped tightly on his shirt.

Why now? What had changed that he remembered everything?

Their lips parted, and Raiden clutched Althea to him, feeling her tears as they wet the front of his shirt. His eyes stung at the memory that had been locked away for so long. It felt like he had just watched her die again.

But, she remained in front of him. Alive.

Althea, on the other hand, clung to Raiden because of the shooting pain in her chest. For whatever reason, she knew where she had seen him before. He trained her to fight in Mortal Kombat. She fell in love with him during the time they had spent together. Then, she had died in the final round of the tournament. The pain had her crying, yet she found comfort in his arms crushing her to him.

A white light surrounded them, and they were no longer in Raiden’s office.

“It has been some time, Raiden,” the Elder Gods stated.

“Raiden,” Althea whispered, holding onto his arm and wiping away her tears. Her chest still ached in pain.

“We deserve an explanation,” Raiden replied sternly.

“We gave you an explanation before. Would it not have been odd that mortals be told of other realms that existed outside of Earthrealm? Would it not have been odd that gods walked among men? Would it not have been odd for mortals to find out that a tournament in which individuals gave their lives and souls occurred for their protection?” the Elder Gods posed.

“The explanation I seek is for why Althea and I have met again and why I now know what has happened in my past,” Raiden said.

“Because as the Protector of Earthrealm, you were given a specific duty. Protect the realm and find what warriors you could for Mortal Kombat. When we saw the difference in your relationship with Althea, we knew you would no longer have the same outlook as before. We instructed Shang Tsung to kill Althea no matter the means. This way, you would remain focused on your duty. We never anticipated on her making it all the way through the tournament, but Shang Tsung followed the orders he was given,” the Elder Gods spoke.

A chill overcame Raiden at what the Elder gods revealed.

“What would have happened to me had I never been with Raiden before?” Althea questioned.

“You would have lived your life as normal. Grown older with each year as humans do. That only would have happened had you and Raiden never encountered each other before,” they said.

“Why have we met again?” Raiden questioned.

“We were curious to as why Althea was the one to change your outlook the first time you two met. Reincarnating her just as she was before was our best chance to oversee how you two would interact. It was extremely similar to the first time. You two have an invisible pull to one another that we cannot explain. This was also our way of making up an unnecessary death due to the fact that had Shang Tsung not intervened upon our instruction, Althea would have won that tournament.”

“How dare you believe-,” Raiden started but the Elder Gods cut him off.

“But now that you are both aware of your pasts, we need to ensure that no one will know of what has transpired,” they stated.

“What more could you do to us? No matter what you do, we will always find each other and remember,” Althea hissed.

“Unseal the memories of the others is what we plan to do. Although, you may only speak of the past with those who already know of it,” the Elder Gods told them.

“What?” Althea questioned quietly.

“Although, we will not grant back the powers everyone once had, we believed the memories will suffice,” the Elder Gods responded.

Raiden was still shocked into speechlessness.

Then, before either of them could say anything more, the white light enveloped them once more.

Raiden and Althea were back in his office.

“How long have you been alive?” Althea asked.

“Centuries upon centuries,” Raiden answered as he looked at her tenderly. “But, I first met you 500 years ago.”

“Seriously? How have you stayed at this college for so long?”

“Persuasion has always been Sindel’s strongest asset,” Raiden replied.

“I’m not surprised.”

Raiden wrapped her in his arms. Her arms instantly went around his middle.

“I can’t believe that you’re back,” Raiden remarked, pressing a kiss into her hair.

“I always wondered why I couldn’t stay away from you,” Althea replied.

She pulled back enough to look up at Raiden.

“This does explain why we had seen each other’s eyes before yet couldn’t place where,” he stated.

Althea smiled widely at him.

Then, just as they were about to kiss, the door to Raiden’s office flew open. Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Sindel, and Fujin all stood at the doorway with the voices of Bo Rai Cho, Hanzo, Bi-Han, and Kuai echoing in the halls.

“Heh, that explains her color choices,” Sindel commented upon seeing Althea’s lilac shirt and white pants.

“She was the Althea you never shut up about?!” both Liu and Lao shouted.

Fujin only grinned from ear to ear.

“You never stopped talking about me?” Althea questioned Raiden.

Raiden looked over to Lao and Liu with a halfhearted glare before returning his eyes to Althea. She enjoyed the blush that was slowly spreading across his cheeks.

“It was difficult when you were my best pupil,” Raiden answered.

“I’m sure you say that to all of your students,” Althea stated.

“No, he doesn’t!” Liu said at the same time Lao said, “Yes, he does.”

Lao and Liu looked at each other while everyone else laughed.

Then, Althea cupped one of Raiden’s cheeks and pulled him down, closer to her. Raiden happily obliged and quickly met her awaiting lips.


End file.
